Proposal for the Select the thesis’ type. with the working title

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at the Chair of Industrial Sales and Service Engineering

in the study program Sales Engineering and Product Management

at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

of the Ruhr University Bochum

by

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Thematic Context of the Thesis

The project proposal for your intended thesis consists of three parts: the thematic context of the thesis, the objective of the thesis, and the proposed methodology. In the first section, Thematic Context of the Thesis, you introduce your research question. This includes describing the context of your intended work and, if applicable, briefly outlining the theoretical framework. In addition, key terms and concepts that are central to your topic should be clearly defined. Overall, this section should be understandable to readers unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Objective of the Thesis

Building on the thematic context, this section derives the specific research question of your thesis. However, you should not yet formulate any theses or hypotheses at this stage. In contrast to the first section, this part provides a significantly deeper examination of the thesis topic. The focus is on reviewing current literature, highlighting the research gap from which the research question can be derived.

Proposed Methodology

The final section of the proposal outlines how the previously defined research question will be addressed. In particular, the following questions should be considered: Will the thesis be conceptual or empirical in nature? If empirical, will the approach be qualitative or quantitative? Which method (e.g., interviews/focus groups or personal/written surveys) will be used? Additionally, this section should briefly indicate which results are expected within the scope of the planned thesis.

References

Becker, J. und Schütte, R. 2004. Handelsinformationssysteme, 2. Aufl., Frankfurt am Main: Redline Wirtschaft.

Kaplan, R. S. und Norton, D. P. 1997. Balanced Scorecard: Strategien erfolgreich umsetzen, Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag.

Declaration on the Use of AI Tools

I hereby declare (please check the applicable box):
☐	that I have not used any tools with generative functions or other tools with comparable automated, data-based generative functions (so-called AI tools), and have therefore removed the corresponding table from the document. I have also ensured that the tools I used do not contain any automated, data-based generative functions. I am aware that the use of such tools constitutes a violation of this declaration and the Declaration of Authorship, should it be proven that I made use of them.
☐	that I have used tools with generative functions or other tools with comparable automated, data-based generative functions (so-called AI tools) and that I am informed about their capabilities and limitations. I further declare that I have reviewed the results generated by these tools for accuracy and have corrected any errors independently. I acknowledge that full responsibility for the generated content lies with me and not with the tools used, other resources, or any other individuals. Additionally, I declare that I have fully and accurately documented the names of the tools I used, the type and extent of their use, and the specific sections of the text in which they were applied, in the table below.

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Type of Use	Extent of Use	AI Tool Used	relevant Sections (chapters, paragraphs…)
Ideation and Conceptualization	e.g., development of ideas, objectives, and research questions; identification and definition of relevant concepts	e.g., ChatGPT	e.g., chapter 1, p. 2, paragraph 2
Literature Research and Analysis	e.g., searching for relevant literature; reviewing potentially relevant sources; summarizing relevant literature	e.g., perplexity.ai, SciSummary, Research Rabbit
Methodological Approach	e.g., identifying a suitable methodological approach; developing and adapting the approach to the research question(s)
Data Collection and Analysis	e.g., qualitative data analysis including transcription and coding; quantitative data analysis including statistical analysis	e.g., sonix.ai, MAXQDA
Presentation and Discussion of Results	e.g., preparation and presentation of the results; interpretation and discussion of the results in relation to the current state of research; derivation of implications for research and practice
Text Processing, e.g., (i) Structuring, (ii) Generation, (iii) Translation, (iv) Review and Correction of Texts	ad (i) e.g., structuring the overall written work and/or individual chapters or sections; ad (ii) e.g., generating text on various topics across different chapters, including the title and abstract; ad (iii) e.g., translating one's own text or texts written by other authors; ad (iv) e.g., reviewing and revising the content, organization, or grammar of the written work; rephrasing or paraphrasing text; shortening or expanding text.	e.g., Paperpal, ChatGPT, DeepL, Grammarly
Reference Management	e.g., creating the reference list; managing and documenting sources	e.g., Zotero	e.g., entire written work